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Martin Van Creveld

Equality: The Impossible Quest Hardcover – May 17, 2016

by Martin van Creveld (Author)

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All over the Western world gaps between rich and poor are widening-or the headlines say. Nobody has done more to spread this view than the French economic historian Thomas Piketty, whose best-selling volume, Capital in the Twentieth Century, not only documents the process but represents one long call for reducing the gaps so as to create a more equal society. But what is equality? Who invented the idea, when, where, and why? How did it develop, grow, mature, and interact with other ideas? How was it implemented, and at what cost? Are we getting closer to it? What is the promise? What is the threat? There is equality before God and equality here on earth. There is natural equality and the kind of equality that society creates. Some people, incidentally, want to extend equality to animals and plants as well. There is equality of body and there is equality of mind. There is economic equality and there is equality before the law. There is civic equality and there is political equality and there is equality of opportunity and there is equality in front of death. There is equality among individuals and there is equality among groups, nations, and races. In Aldous Huxley's celebrated book, Brave New World, this truth is held to be self-evident that men are equal in respect to their physico-chemical makeups, but in no other way. The list is seemingly endless Equality: The Impossible Quest considers all these problems and more. It begins by considering our primate relatives as well as various historical societies that never heard of equality. Next, it traces the development of the idea and its implementation in various societies throughout history. This include ancient Greek equality as realized in Athens and Sparta, monastic equality in both East and West, social revolts aimed at establishing equality, utopian equality, liberal equality of the American and French Revolutionary varieties, socialist, communist and kibbutz equalities, Nazi equality, the equality of women and minorities, and biological equality through medical and genetic science. The last chapter deals with the greatest equalizer of all, death.

Print length

364 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Castalia House
Publication date

May 17, 2016
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.81 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

9527065526
ISBN-13

978-9527065525
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Castalia House (May 17, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 364 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9527065526
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9527065525
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.81 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,823,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,060 in Government Social Policy
- #5,530 in General Gender Studies
- #21,402 in Historical Study (Books)

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31 ratings

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Don Morris

Scholarly research with no index

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2020

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The first two-thirds of this work provides a useful, wide-ranging historical discussion of ways in which equality appears impossible in specific contexts; it is an international-historical travelogue of inequality. But if van Creveld’s goal was really to defend the thesis that equality is an impossible quest, he should have taken greater pains to stipulate and clarify the senses of equality he is describing in his examples. His discussion of women’s inequality with men, for example, does not mention one of the topic’s central concerns—equal pay for equal work. The concern for equal pay is moral and aspirational and is not resolved by pointing to physical or physiological gender differences. In general, while most of the book is grounded in factual matters (though with insufficient citations) the author ultimately drifts into more problematic realms, especially in the last third of the text which lays bare his biases against many of ways in which people seek equality. In his discussion of equality for women, for example (published in 2015 and not 1950), he explains that “Today, as ever, men protect women and feed them, which itself entails a certain kind of inequality. Today, as ever, the higher one climbs, the fewer women one meets. And some of those one meets are there to create the illusion of equality, not the reality. . . . Women who try to exploit the advantages nature has given them to obtain the protection of men and be fed by them cannot and will not be equal with men. Women who are equal with men will in many ways cease to be women at all” (p. 221). In his discussions of discrimination as a reason why people demand equal rights (chapter 8), the author fails to address the fact that discrimination, of the kind he is describing, is by definition a denial of individuality and is for that reason morally objectionable. Many of his arguments against anti-discrimination measures are therefore misguided or lacking in context. He writes, when “Imperial China . . . adopted examinations early in the nineteenth century, the objective of the system was to find out who was better than the others. To do so, all students were treated equally by being given the same questionnaires to fill in or answer in the same time under the same conditions. Today’s Western societies,” he claims,” do exactly the opposite” (p. 233) In making this claim, however, he ignores that fact that the Imperial Chinese exams were not open to “all students” but only to those of a certain social standing; the discrimination Western societies are trying to prevent had already occurred. As a final example of the author’s attitude toward equality, he asserts, “in many of the self-proclaimed advanced countries, equality itself has been turned into the most jealous, and most vindictive, god of all” (p. 236). The final chapters devolve into an old man’s conservative grousing about the future and what grotesque forms of dystopian equality it portends. While the author does provide endnotes for much of what he claims, for a scholarly work of this breadth and importance, an index is indispensable—though none is provided.

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Wray R. Johnson, PhD

Neither Jew nor Greek, Bond nor Free, Male nor Female

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2016

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A controversial subject that few would even dare to touch. When van Crevald is good, he's good. When his work is off, it's usually way off. This book is very good. Though, as the Christian Bible tells us, we are all equal in the sight of God, here on earth one cannot dismiss the reality that some people are shorter, others taller, some are quite intelligent and others are not, etc. It may not be PC to point that out but Mother Nature gives no thought to ideologies and politics. If we are to be equal in any one thing, it should be in the sight of the law. But even that is no longer true (if it ever was). Van Crevald pulls no punches. A worthwhile read for those willing to remove the PC blinders and examine the issue of equality using logic, evidence, and reason.

10 people found this helpful

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iSergei

An eye opener on the dominant Equality paradigm.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2017

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An exhaustive study of Equality paradigm though the depth of the history. I was impressed very much with breadth of author's historical knowledge. Main dilemma is in clash of an obvious diversity and equality chimera. Author's conclusion is that "Egalite" can't be reached now, or in the future. This rubs against polit-correctness mainstream, a bitter truth, but important to comprehend. Nice addendum to the book is a very good audio narrative, I bought them both.

5 people found this helpful

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Interested customer

No more need be said--this book is excellent on all counts. Even thouigh dangerously (for the autholr) non-PC.

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2015

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I can't add much to the other 5 star reviews, but I feel obligated to add my praise for this excedllent book on a topic fraught with peril for the author. It probably won't be allowed in the campus book store--certainly not without a "trigger warning." The author is apparently known for speaking his mind. He does so. And I enjoyed it, even as to those passages with which I disagreed. .

I recognize that II am very much in the choir for this book's message, which, simply put, is that inequality appears to be the natural order of things, and can only be offset by ceding liberty to a ruler who will see to it that everyone (except the ruler and his or her friends or political supporters) obeys the command to act as if everyone's equal, even if it's delusional.. The drumbeat of enthusiasm for "equality" simply astounds me, coming as it does from a public which exalts the winners in sporting events from the Olympics, through the pro leagues to the Little League; made American Idol a hit for years; paid millions of dollars to see which of two guys they had never met would win a boxing match, and provides Justin Bieber and other "entertainers" with millions of dollars a year.

Although I don't ordinarily argue with other critics, I would urge the prospective reader to ignore the critic who limited his rating to 3 stars because he thought the book was poorly written. I, who fancies himself a pretty good judge of writing, simply can't understand that comment. I found the book really enjoyable to read.

The authos is apparently known for speaking his mind. He does. I enjoyed it--even the parts with which I disagreed.

6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

PlayerPianoPlayer

Very good on the paradoxes and conundrums that the pursuit of ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2016

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Very good on the paradoxes and conundrums that the pursuit of equality throws up. The paradoxes of feminism are especially poignant. Very good on the history of the idea of equality, too. One fact highlighted in the book that I hadn't previously noticed is that Thomas Hobbes originated the idea that human beings in nature are equal. Nobody before Hobbes conceived such a notion? That surprised me. After all, despite being the founder of enlightenment political philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, a firm monarchist, has not been widely touted as an egalitarian - yet I have not so far discovered any evidence that the author is wrong.

2 people found this helpful

Charlie the Chaste

Totally Fascinating

Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2019

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I love this book and this author.

This is a very interesting subject and I love reading about the quest for equality between the sexes, in military hierarchies and in death.

Worth every cent. Take the plunge, the reading alternates between quick and challenging.

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